Beijing to reward and punish citizens based on ‘social credit score’

Beijing plans to reward or blacklist residents based on their “social credit score” in a system that the Chinese city plans to implement in 2020.

The Beijing government website reported on Tuesday that the public credit information service will combine information from government and social sectors to get a full picture of a person’s social credit status.

Each citizen will face penalties or receive rewards based on how they conduct themselves in terms of social behaviour and financial track records.

This is part of China’s plan to have a fully functioning social credit system to reward citizens for good social behaviour and to punish and restrict those with poor credit scores.

Reuters reported in May, that as part of the social credit score plan, people who committed misdeeds on trains and flights would be barred from using those modes of transportation for up to a year.

According to the Beijing government, the city will have a blacklist that will be made available for market access, public services, travel and employment.

Residents with bad social credit scores will be limited in terms of movement and accessing services in the city. Those with good credit scores will be rewarded by having easy access to services in the city.

According to Bloomberg, Beijing is not the first Chinese city to have implement such a programme. The city of Hangzhou introduced a personal credit score system this year, which rewards residents for doing volunteer work or donating blood.